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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 24 December 2014

National

CVC decided to constitute panel on sanction to probe corrupt officials

The Central Vigilance Commission has decided to constitute a committee of experts to review pending cases referred to it by the CBI for sanction of prosecution against corrupt government officials.
It has sought applications from retired persons having held the position of Secretary or Additional Secretary to the Government of India or equivalent and CMD, MD or whole time director on the board of public undertakings, banks, and insurance companies who can be empanelled as experts in the committee.
The interested individuals should possess sufficient knowledge and experience in matters like vigilance and investigation, criminal law, public administration, finance including banking & insurance, tender & procurement etc. must be under 70 years of age and preferably residing in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), the CVC said in an order seeking applications from eligible persons.
The tenure of the committee shall be of two years, extendable for a further period of up to two years. The CVC had in July extended by six months the tenure of an existing eight-member committee of experts. The committee was formed for a period of two years on July 1, 2012.
The CVC tenders advice in respect of officers coming under its jurisdiction against whom the CBI, after probing the case, has recommended sanction for prosecution.
“On a few occasions, where the Commission has in agreement with the CBI’s recommendations, advised sanction for prosecution against a public servant, the disciplinary authority, in disagreement with the CBI’s recommendations, approaches the Commission for reconsideration of its advice.
“A Committee under the chairmanship of a Vigilance Commissioner along with two experts from the panel takes a final view on the case,” a CVC official said explaining the working of the panel.
The CVC is waiting for over four months sanction of prosecution against 46 officials allegedly involved in corruption, according to its latest data. As per the norms, sanction for prosecution has to be decided within four months time.

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Business & Economy

7,500 MW thermal power plant to come up in Nalgonda

To put an end to power woes of Telangana, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to establish 7,500 MW thermal power generation plant near Veerulapalem village limits of Damarcherla mandal in Nalgonda district by investing Rs. 53,000 crore.
The State government would invest Rs. 6 crore for each MW production. Besides, the Chief Minister also wanted to construct a mega township here which would accommodate about 20,000 people.
The initiative would generate employment for 30,000 people in the area, directly and indirectly. The project also includes construction of a multi-speciality hospital and a school for the employees in the township.
The Chief Minister along with officials and public representatives conducted an aerial survey to examine the government land available along the Krishna bank in Damarcherla mandal and Mattampally mandal in district.
Bhongir Member of Parliament Boora Narsaiah Goud, who also accompanied the Chief Minister, said that the Chief Minister has identified some 6,000 acres land near Veerulapalem village to fulfil his dream of making the State a surplus power producing one within three years.
Mr. Goud further said that they have chosen Damarcherla area as water is available here round-the-year as it is situated between Nagajrunasagar and Pulichintala reservoirs.
Apart from this, he said that the place is located very close to State High-2 and also has railway connectivity, which would help it to get coal from NTPC units located in various parts of Telangana.
In case if they want to import coal from foreign countries, Mr. Goud said that Machilipatnam and Krishnpatanam ports are located just 130 km. and 180 km. away respectively from Veerulapalem.
Mr. Goud informed that the district administration would start survey of land in couple of days to prepare a detailed project report. The State government is working to get some funds from the Power Grid Corporation of India and rural electrification corporation to complete the mega project within three years.
Since the thermal power generation is cheapest and the State also has enough resources, Mr. Goud said that the Chief Minister has decided to establish a thermal power plant.

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Persons in News

Dr. Radhakrishnan in Nature journal's top 10 list

Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is one of the 2014 top ten scientists chosen by the prestigious journal Nature. This is the first time in the recent past that the journal has chosen an Indian working in India.
He is listed along with other people like Andrea Accomazzo, the Rosetta flight operations director, European Space Agency. The reasons for choosing Dr. Radhakrishnan are pretty simple and straightforward.
When India’s Mangalyaan successfully settled into Mars orbit on September 24, 2014, the country became the first and only nation to have done so on its maiden attempt. India also became the first Asian country to reach Mars.
The space organisation crossed two other major milestones this year. In January, the space organisation achieved spectacular success with the spaceflight of an Indian cryogenic engine and stage.
India has been striving hard for some years to indigenously develop a cryogenic engine to improve the reliability of GSLV rockets and to take the rocket to greater heights.
The recent launch of the heaviest and tallest GSLV Mark III and the successful re-entry of the unmanned crew module were the other landmark achievements.
“It’s recognition for executing a major technological mission by bringing in synergy of a large team,” said Dr. Radhakrishnan about Nature choosing him as one of the top ten scientists in the world. The team is as large as 16,000 members, with the younger generation alone accounting for 4,500.
“ISRO is a wonderful and unique organisation. There is wonderful team spirit and openness,” is how he describes an organisation that he joined in 1971. He had worked in various major capacities before becoming Chairman.
He was with the then Department of Ocean Development for five years from 2000-2005 and was a Founder Director of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad.
If the number of young people wanting to join ISRO skyrocketed after the success of the Chandrayaan moon mission, the Mangalyaan magic is bound to generate much greater attraction.
“These missions have been able to generate remarkable interest in the younger generation. If we are already able to attract the best brains in the country, these achievements provide a fillip to that,” he said.
“Just after the September 24 event [when Mangalyaan settled into Mars orbit], ISRO got many postcards from people. The Facebook of ISRO has 900,000 likes,” he said
At a time when other government research organisations are struggling to get the best, motivated people, ISRO has been like a magnet attracting and retaining. Dr. Radhakrishnan shares the secret behind this.
“The challenge provided by the job itself attracts people. To retain people, the job should be challenging,” he said. “There is also good working culture and ambience. There is also pride associated with the job, and in a society how people look at you also matters.”

Science & Technology

Prestigious solar park may be shifted to Adilabad

The prestigious solar park that was to be set up in Mahabubnagar district by the Central government is most likely to be shifted to Adilabad as the government could not find suitable land for setting up such park.
During his visit to Adilabad, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao may inspect the land identified for the same. The project, worth 1,000 MW capacity, was initially sought to be set up in Gattu mandal of Mahabubnagar district.
Towards the same, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed among the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), APIIC and the New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP) in February this year.
The park was to be built on plug and play model which would make it easier for the solar developers to set up plants in short duration of three to six months. However, it ran into an unforeseen hurdle recently, when the land shown by the APIIC (now TSIIC) was discovered as assigned land, the officials informed.
A total 5,800 acres of land in Gattu was identified in one chunk earlier, which would have sufficed the project. But to its embarrassment, the Central team, which visited the mandal along with prospective entrepreneurs, including NTPC Ltd. and NHPC delegates, found that it was assigned land.
The sources said that the government is not willing to acquire the land by paying compensation to the assignees, as it would result in huge financial burden.
Instead, officials went in search of alternative locations, and found 1,000 acres of government land in Indravelli mandal of Adilabad district.
The land would be enough only for 200 MW, considering that each MW of solar power installations requires five acres of land. The government is reportedly mulling over spreading the intended capacity over different places in the district.

International

Fulfil Mistral contract or return money says Russia to France

Russia's Defence Ministry said that France must fulfil a contract to deliver two Mistral helicopter carriers or return Moscow's money as uncertainty over the 1.2 billion euro deal still lingers.
"Regarding the Mistrals, here a contract is in place. All the terms are spelled out in the contract: terms of delivery, penalties and procedures. We can demand a refund," said Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov told .